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A history of debates concerning the impact of technology on employment, and a description of the techniques used by economists in establishing a consensus opinion.

Table of Contents

Preface Introduction The Machinery and Unemployment Debates Origin of the Technological Unemployment Debates Theoretical Disputes in the Technological Unemployment Debates Empirical Contributions in the Early 1930s Empirical Debates in the Mid-to-Late 1930s Resolution and Interpretation of the Technological Unemployment Debates Origin of the Structural Unemployment Debates Evolution of the Structural Unemployment Debates Peak Years of the Structural Unemployment Debates Resolution and Interpretation of the Structural Unemployment Debates Conclusion Notes Selected Bibliography

About the Author

GREGORY R. WOIROL is Professor of Economics and holder of the Richard and Billie Deihl Distinguished Chair at Whittier College. Dr. Woirol has published numerous books and journal articles dealing with subjects in economics.

Reviews

?Economists have generally been optimistic about the effects of technological change, but occasionally fears have arisen that it will cause significant, perhaps enduring, unemployment. In this book Woirol...focuses on two periods in which the optimism was challenged--the late 1920s and 1930s, when economists grappled with "technological unemployment," and the 1960s, when they debated the importance of "structural unemployment." Woirol makes a solid contribution to the history of economic thought and provides an evenhanded, concise (though encyclopedic and well-documented), readable, ...chronological survey of both the theoretical and empirical literature.... A useful addition to graduate and research collections in labor economics or the history of economic thought.?-Choice

"Economists have generally been optimistic about the effects of technological change, but occasionally fears have arisen that it will cause significant, perhaps enduring, unemployment. In this book Woirol...focuses on two periods in which the optimism was challenged--the late 1920s and 1930s, when economists grappled with "technological unemployment," and the 1960s, when they debated the importance of "structural unemployment." Woirol makes a solid contribution to the history of economic thought and provides an evenhanded, concise (though encyclopedic and well-documented), readable, ...chronological survey of both the theoretical and empirical literature.... A useful addition to graduate and research collections in labor economics or the history of economic thought."-Choice